Sep 26, 2010

Home Repairs: No Help Needed

There is nothing in this world that works well forever. Furniture, machines and basically anything in your home cannot either. When something breaks down, many of you would call an expert to look at it right away, I'm sure. That is not always necessary, though. A noticeable amount of money could be saved if you at least try to fix at least the simplest things yourself. Experts, however, save a lot of time, energy and patience.

What can you do alone and when is the help of specialists necessary? Let's check out few activities:
Light bulb changing - well, honestly, I don't expect anyone to call professionals to do this, really. Still, there sure are many who would not do it themselves. They would rather survive long hours with no light until someone perhaps taller and handier comes along. If you do it yourself, be careful and always turn off the power switch when changing a bulb though.

Paint - it kind of belongs to repairs, too. A fresh coat of paint can very noticeably "repair" the look of a room or house. As I have mentioned in one of my articles, paiting belongs to activitied which could be on your own 'to do' list. It is not expensive. You only have to pay for the paint. On the other hand, though, it takes a lot of time and energy.

Clogged drain - it happens every once in a while, due to hair or minerals in the water. There is no need to immediately call professionals when you want to save the clogged drain. They often only advise you to use some specific chemicals. Those can be found in many specialist or DIY shops, try to visit them!

Roof - if you feel really confident about your skills, you could try to do the job, yes. In my opinion, it would not be such a wiese decision, though. First of all, it is quite dangeruous. Also, the roof certainly belongs to the most essesntial parts of your house. If you do not repair it well enough, water could get inside of your home very easily if it rains. Hence it seems to be quite wise to let professionals do the job.

Electricity - repairing anything electrical is something only professionals should be allowed to do. I'm pretty sure that even when you were a child, your parent told you many times that working with electricity, if you are not an expert. might end up in a disaster.

In case you have decided to save few dollars by doing a couple of easy fixes at home yorself, good luck! Online, you can find hundreds of different articles books or videos which could guide and help you. Just look for them. Not to offend anyone, I am certainly not a professional at home repairs either, but while searching for some guides, I found a book, the title of which is worth mentioning: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Simple Home Repair by Judy Ostrow. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

Sep 15, 2010

Painting Your Home


We all have that desire once in a while to change how our property looks. As the owner you have probably lived with the same look for many years and while it still looks nice to others, to you its ready for a change. You do not need to go to a massive expense to change the look, a coat of paint can freshen the look of your property.

So now you have determined you are going to repaint, there are one or two decisions that need to be made. The very first thing that should be settled is whether you want to paint the exterior, interior or both. It's not just you who will see the results of your hard work, if you paint the outside, individuals passing by will see that fresh new look. Painting the outside is not an option if you live in a building that is not owned by you, such as a apartment With condos, the choice is quite apparent and it is the interior that will be redecorated with a new color. For most people, repainting the inside is the option they will choose, which stands to reason as the interior requires redecorating more frequently.

Once you have made the decision to paint your property, the next thing on the agenda is who is going to do the painting. If you have some family and friends living close by, then the cheaper way is to do it yourself. The only expense will be the new paint colour, some tools and maybe a couple of beers and pizzas for your assistants. If you don't have a lot of time to work with, then you could find that decorating this way could take up your free time for quite a few weeks, also think about the chaos it would cause. Despite the fact it will cost you more, a more simple option, and one that will have the least impact and disruption on your life, would be too employ someone to do it for you.

The most essential question to be determined is the correct color. A small room can look more spacious with a pale neutral paint and a dark room can be made to look fresher with a bright colour. It is important to think about whether the wall covering will match the furniture and accessories in the room it does not have to be the same shade but they should be complementary. As for the outside paint, be careful not to make your house look totally like the one next to yours. Although, it is probably not a good idea to paint the outside of the property with strong colours, a colour that blends in with the neighbourhood is probably the best idea.

Don't let friends or family tell you what colour you should choose, only you know what is right for your property. So if painting your property is on your to do list, then good luck and I hope this write-up helped.

Created by Elli Davis Team, popular Toronto Condos realtors

picture by Barjack

Sep 11, 2010

Colorful, Autumn Home

Time flies by faster than we realize and very soon, we will have to wave summer goodbye. Walks in colorful leaves and listening to raindrops will be a big part of our lives for some time again. All of the season have some specific characteristics. Autumn does too and those should be shown in your home too.

There are many houses that are redecorated quite a few times a year, according to the current season. Fall seems to be the most colorful out of the seasons - those offer many interesting ideas. The top colors of this season are orange, red, yellow and brown. Your place can get a very nice and warm look thanks to these colors. You certainly do not have to repaint all the walls in the house and change the furniture but couple of accessories can make wonders.

Pillows, candles, pictures or paintings could easily change the way a room looks. They are really affordable and hence you can have a specific collection for every time of the year. Buying a little picture showing autumn leaves, for instance, is very easy. The painting does not have to be by a famous artist or expensive - it can be sold everywhere. Also the orange, red and yellow color combination is very stylish and many rooms are furnished and accessorized by items from these colors. In case the colors and styles in your home do not go well with these, you should not use them, naturally.

When someone says "autumn", leaves is the word that comes first to mind of many. It is easy to pick up few nice ones even in your garden. This is where a vase comes in handy, use it to show the wonderful leaves you found. In case you belong to creative people, you certainly can create a nice arrangement from the leaves. Moreover, a bowl full of red apples looks quite autumn-y as well.

Autumn is also the time of the year when it is starting to get cool outside, so we have to prepare for the cold winter. This is also a very good time to get your roof and heating system checked, chimney cleaned and purchase a supply of wood, if necessary. It will be easier to enjoy cold, long, autumn and winter nights if you prepare for it beforehand.

Sep 5, 2010

Is There a Positive Side to Living in a Home with Lots of Generations?


Do you live in a home with your kids and your parents? In spite of the fact that this scenario seems to be more common in old movies, it is certainly becoming more and more usual nowadays, than it was a few years ago. As with anything, lots of generations living under one roof will have positive and also negative sides to it. This feature, hopefully, will show you the main areas of living like this. If moving back home to be with extended family is something you are looking to do shortly, hopefully this report can give you an insight into what to expect.

Positive things to consider.

-it can often make better monetary sense. If the property is very large, with a floor for each generation, then this may not happen.
-you are occupying a house with your whole family around you. This can be a really advantageous point for living together as it can boost very close family ties.

-if the younger adult needs to go away at short notice and has no idea who could look after the children, in a multiple generation house, someone is always there to take care of them (no babysitter is needed). For the younger generation, there is a wealth of advice and support available from the older generations.
-the older generations may have health issues, therefore the younger members of the property can support them to living independently as much as possible. Helping each other is the big positive point of living together, just think coming home from a long day at work and someone has prepared a meal for you.

-the older generation can feel by themselves, primarily if they are housebound or have lost their life partner. With young adults and kids around, there is unlikely to be a dull moment, therefore being surrounded by family gives the older generation people to lean on.

Let's now consider the not so good points.

-if you want to have a personal life and some alone space, it's not going to be effortless.
-parents might meddle in the life of their children and grandkid too much, and vice versa.

disputes about bringing up the children (the grandparents are treating them too much and so on).

-consider your partner, how are they going to feel being in such close proximity to your family, they may even worry that you are comparing them.
-the generation gap could cause problems, each generation has their own way of seeing things and thoughts on how things should be done. Naturally, it is important to live in a home, which is capable of accommodating more generations Forest Hill houses is ideal for this.

Rules need to be set up before entering into this kind of household, there are a multitude of other areas to think about that I haven't covered, as a family it's up to you how you deal with it. Honesty is particularly important, though. Do not put yourself in the situation just because someone else would like you too, if it isn't the life you want then nothing is going to change your point of view. When all said and done, if you are depressed then other people are going to feel that, which makes for a very tense home and relationships could break down.